UUP Cortland Chapter

Here’s a little note to provide a big thank you for your support and involvement in Tuesday’s “SUNY Cortland Works!” event.  We had some challenges that we overcame.  It was absolutely wonderful that everyone stayed and seemed to enjoy the program.  The band was great, Henry Steck was in outstanding form, Erik Bitterbaum spent the whole 2 hours with us, and our new VP for Finance, Dave Duryea and Cortland City Mayor and SUNY Cortland Swimming Coach Brian Tobin both got soaking wet dragging band equipment and hot dog pans in out of the rain!  It was a day to remember.

Recognition is offered to The President’s Office, Toni Murray our UUP Staff Assistant, UUP membership, and CSEA membership for their support and participation.  Thank you!

Marc Dearstyne for the “SUNY Cortland Works!” Committee

Cortland Chapter was awarded the following:

First Award: Best Website
http://uuphost.org/cortland……………..…Toni Murray

Honorable Mention: General Excellence
The Cortland Cause………………….Editor: Karla Alwes

Honorable Mention: Best Original Article
“Librarians as Housewives”…………Gretchen Herrmann

25-Year Solidarity Awards

Dawn Van Hall                  Dianne Galutz

20-Year Service Pin       15-Year Service Pin

Jamie Dangler                  David Ritchie

5-Year Membership & Service Award

Marc Dearstyne               Jennifer Drake

from LEFT, BEHIND CORTLAND BANNER: Claire Kuiken, Chloe Kuiken,
John Kuiken, Josephine Kuiken in stroller), Jo Schaffer (holding 
end of banner), Gretchen Douglas, Michelle Kelly (holding up sign), 
Bill Buxton, Wayne Douglas (in tan UUP hat behind), Eileen Landy, 
Tim Emerson (obscured by Eileen, holding up sign), Jen Drake, 
Laura Rhodes (Potsdam chapter president), Cody Westbrook,(son 
of Joe W. - obscured by Laura Davies), Laura and John Davies with 
their children from left to right are Addie, Mac, John Henry, 
Gilly, and Cate. Joe Westbrook and Anne Wiegard. 

SUNY Cortland students and their advisor, UUPer Marc Dearstyne, right, meet with Assemblyman Will Barclay to request additional funding for SUNY’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC).

The Cortland students were among nearly 300 students from 16 SUNY campuses that traveled to Albany Feb. 12 for UUP’s EOP/EOC Advocacy Day.

The students, along with UUP members involved with the programs, visited the offices of more than 100 lawmakers and urged them to restore a $632,400 reduction in EOP funding in the 2014-15 Executive Budget. The students also pushed lawmakers to increase funding for EOC. State aid for EOC is unchanged in the proposed spending plan.

EOP students, such as Sasha Miller of Geneseo and Demar Harvey of UBuffalo, talked about the opportunities EOP and EOC have given them and how the programs have changed their lives.

“College wouldn’t be a reality for me without EOP,” Miller said. “With the financial support and counseling they provide, I feel I can succeed.”

“Being involved with EOC started me on the track to secure stability in my life,” said Harvey, who said he lost his job and was unsure where to turn before enrolling in the program.

Students followed the advice of UUP President Fred Kowal, who told them to speak from the heart when talking to legislators.

“These lawmakers want to hear your personal stories and what these programs mean to you,” Kowal said, as he greeted students prior to their meetings with lawmakers. “Don’t underestimate the power of your story.”

UUPer Elyzabeth Wengert, director of SUNY Oswego’s EOP, explained the importance of the program to an aide for Assemblyman Bill Nojay. The program receives about 2,000 applications each year, but only has resources to enroll 300 students.

“We are turning away 1,700 (applicants) each year,” she said. “We are changing the trajectory of their future.”

EOP provides academic and career counseling and financial aid to students from low-income families. EOCs help prepare students for college or vocational training programs.

UUP Cortland Chapter member Marc Dearstyne asks students Adonis Vasquez and Victoria Jean to sign a petition that asks the campus president to increase the salary for part-time academic faculty.

The two were among nearly 1,000 students, faculty and staff who signed the Cortland petition during Campus Equity Week Oct. 28 – Nov. 1.

“We got an overwhelmingly supportive response from the students as soon as they understood that most of their professors are off the tenure track and making inadequate wages,” said Anne Wiegard, Cortland UUP Chapter Secretary and a member of UUP’s statewide Executive Board.

Cortland was among several UUP chapters conducting activities to mark Campus Equity Week, a national week of action that seeks to improve working conditions for contingent faculty. According to an analysis of UUP membership data, more than 44 percent of SUNY faculty serve in contingent positions that do not allow for continuing or permanent appointment.

UUP President Fred Kowal had delegates warmly receive his first address as president before a UUP delegate assembly.

In a rousing speech at the 2013 Fall Delegate Assembly in Saratoga Springs Oct. 4, Kowal touched on UUP’s comprehensive plan in response to job cuts at SUNY Downstate. He also called for UUP members to take the lead on efforts to address increasing privatization threats in SUNY.

“It is a struggle for the soul of this university we have built and the state we serve,” Kowal said.

In addition to his previously announced plan to have the union’s outreach program emphasize a regional approach instead of a strict focus on Albany, Kowal said UUP will push its own plan to save SUNY Downstate as well as fighting to protect SUNY’s other teaching hospitals in Stony Brook and Syracuse. Kowal also promised to find the best ways to increase the salaries and benefits for contingent employees in SUNY and across the nation.

“It is a question of justice. It is a question of right. This union will fight this fight because we must. We are in this together, and we have got to get to work,” he said.

The DA attracted 325 delegates, one of the largest number to attend a Fall DA. The event featured a meeting of academic and professional delegates, who met to discuss concerns about Open SUNY and Seamless Transfer.

The DA also included a series of committee meetings. Delegates approved several resolutions, including one affirming support for continuing the fight and building community alliances to save SUNY Downstate, and another endorsing the Mayday $5K Campaign in support of raising part-time employee salaries. Delegates also approved several special orders of business, including ones that honored deceased chapter leaders Larry Ashley, Del Janik and Jack Morganti.

On Saturday, August 24, 2013, Americans from all over our nation will gather in Washington, DC to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, which featured the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Information on Transportation

In light of the recent Supreme Court decision overturning significant components of the Voting Rights Act and the recent court decision in Florida, the August 24th March promises to be an important event.

We urge UUP members to stand with our brothers and sisters from around the country as we march in support of civil rights.  We also ask that you share this information with as many of your colleagues as possible. The event will begin at the Lincoln Memorial at 10:00 AM and participants will march from the Lincoln Memorial to the King Memorial for the formal program at noon.

Transportation is available through NYSUT regional offices. A list of offices and contact information is attached.  There will be no charge to ride a NYSUT bus or to participate in the event, but you must call your NYSUT regional office to reserve a seat.  Please plan to bring your own food.

We will send any additional information as it becomes available. Also, if you plan on attending, or if you have names of others from your chapter attending, please email fkowal@uupmail.org with those names. This will allow us to keep track of the number of UUP members headed to Washington. We look forward to seeing many of you in DC!